Annie F.B. Unpingco, LCSW, is administrator of I Famagu'on-ta, Guam Behavioral Health & Wellness Center, and the state coordinator for mental health disaster.

Written by

Annie F.B. Unpingco

Do you ever wonder why many of our young people in today's generation have difficulty dealing with disappointments and frustrations in life? Often, their way of coping with their problems is by doing negative behaviors and even self-harm behaviors.

This is a serious concern that we have observed regularly. What makes it even more challenging is that the parents and caregivers of many young people seem to not take the harmful behaviors seriously by minimizing the behaviors or the emotions of their children, and thus don't follow through with the treatment recommendation.